The sheer number of attacks on websites and blogs around the world is massive, and things are getting worse.
It’s safe to assume that if your website or blog hasn’t been hacked yet, then it’s inevitable that at some point in time someone will attempt to hack into your site.
On March 11, 2014, technology sites like Cnet.com began reporting that over 162,000 WordPress-powered websites had been hacked.
Thousands of websites are hacked every year! Could yours be next?
(Screenshot: Blog Defender)
According to the Cnet report,
“With some old-fashioned trickery, hackers were able to get more than 162,000 legitimate WordPress-powered Web sites to mount a distributed-denial-of-service attack against another Web site.”
(Source: cnet.com/news/ddos-attack-is-launched-from-162000-wordpress-sites)
As described by security firm Sucuri, hackers had leveraged a flaw to attack unsuspecting WordPress websites and direct a distributed-denial-of-service attack (DDoS) towards another popular website.
You may think that your site offers little to no value to hackers, but the reality is that all websites have value to a malicious user.
If a hacker can exploit a vulnerability in your setup, that site can then be employed as a “bot” to attack more valuable web sites.
The reality is that hackers are searching for weaknesses and trying to break into your web site right now. Whether they will hack in successfully or not, will depend on how difficult you will make it for hackers and botnets to keep persisting until they either work out a way to get access, or give up and decide to look for a more vulnerable target.
How Much Information Are You Broadcasting To Hackers About Your Site?
If you visit a site like Hackertarget.com and run your website through their WordPress security scan …
(WordPress Security Scan Image source: https://hackertarget.com/wordpress-security-scan)
You will see that the check returns various results and information about your site setup …
(Hackertarget – WordPress security check results. Product image: Hackertarget.com)
It should be obvious after using this scanning tool that if you can access all of this information about your WordPress site, then hackers can too.
(Image source: BlogDefender website)
The ability to see what version of WordPress you are using, which plugins and themes you have installed on your site, and which files have been uploaded to certain directories can be useful information to hackers, as this informs them about potentially exploitable security vulnerabilities, especially in older versions.
Fortunately, there is a simple and inexpensive way to stop broadcasting all of this information about your site and make your site invisible to malicious attackers and botnets.
Blog Defender
Product Description
The product is a package of WordPress security video tutorials, WordPress plugins and tools, plus WordPress security documentation in PDF and DOC formats.
Matt Garrett, the creator of BlogDefender began developing BlogDefender after noticing that a WordPress-driven blog he set up for his mother had been hacked into. This particular site had practically nothing to offer, yet it still was hacked.
Matt only became aware of the event after being informed by his host and seeing that a significant amount of unusual activity had taken place inside his server, as well as the addition of several malicious files designed to drive unsuspecting victims to the site and hijack their financial details.
(Product image: Blog Defender)
Matt’s experience shows that that all websites have some value to hackers.
Blog Defender shows you where potential security holes in your website are …
And let’s you quickly fix these …
WordPress Plugins
The Blog Defender security product includes three plugins for WordPress:
Plugin #1 “Automated Backups” in the Blog Defender product suite helps you schedule automated backups …
(Source: Blog Defender)
This plugin lets you do secure backups to your server, external servers and leading cloud-based backup solutions using different backup methods (e.g. Email), perform full or partial backups, exclude files or tables from backups, restore backups, replace URLs (for site migrations), search and replace text strings in your database, perform malware scans and blacklist checks automatically, and more.
Plugin #2 “WP Security” provides your website or blog with security …
(Screenshot source: Blog Defender)
Plugin #2 “WordPress Security” performs a range of vital site protection functions (see “Plugin Features” section below).
Pro Plugin # 3 scans your plugins, themes and WordPress core files to see whether any of your files have been found, and fix any problems it detects …
(Image source: BlogDefender.com)
Plugin #3 “WP Scan & Repair” also scans content to see if any malicious content have been inserted into your site, bans bad bots, blocks brute force attacks and detects any content leeching (where people benefit from your content without offering any reciprocal value or benefit in return).
Tutorials Videos
In addition to the plugins, the Blog Defender product suite also includes 7 training modules in video format plus downloadable guides that will teach you exactly what to do to protect your website from hackers …
(Image source: Blog Defender)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Plugin Benefits
Here we have listed just a few of the benefits and advantages of using Blog Defender to make your WordPress site invisible to hackers and botnets on your web site:
Ready To Use In Very Little Time
The plugins included with Blog Defender are really easy to install. Simply upload a zip file containing the plugin files to your Plugins folder via your WP dashboard and activate.
Very Simple And Easy To Follow
Blog Defender is a do-it-yourself training product that will walk you through the website security process and show you exactly what to do, including how to set everything up, and even which free plugins you should use to get things done inexpensively.
Some additional plugin benefits include the following:
- Protect your WordPress website from hackers, spammers, botnets, data miners and malicious users attempting to exploit your site for their own personal and financial gain.
- Protects Intellectual Property From Being Stolen – If you sell a digital product (e.g. downloadable ebooks, video tutorials, etc.), your work can be stolen and end up becoming freeware on free downloading sites.
- Avoid Getting Suspended By Your Web Host And Banned By Search Engines – When a website is hacked, you should expect to go through a great deal of inconvenience and aggravation. It can take days to uncover the problem and sort through the issues these have caused. In the meantime, your, websites can get suspended by your host, or even blacklisted in search engines. In addition, your contacts can be spammed, your customer list and financial details can be stolen, you could be fined or even charged with fraud, and much more.
Plugin Features
Blog Defender was designed to lock down your site and keep your business safe and secure 24/7.
Blog Defender provides fixes for all of the following issues:
- Host Security Advisory
- WP Plugin Security Audits
- Theme Security Audits
- Anti Brute Force Security
- Anti Cross-Site Scripting
- MySQL Database Security
- Nefarious Traffic Blocking
- Hiding WordPress ‘Tell Tale’ Signs
- Anti-Comment Spam Blocking
- File Monitoring
- Link Monitoring
- Blocking Known Offenders
- Automating WordPress Updates
- WordPress Security Audit
- Tightening Server Security
- Kick Out Policy
- Online Reputation Checking
- And More …
Blog Defender provides a logical process for securing your site, addressing potential hosting security issues, using tools to identify risky WordPress themes and plugins, and then implementing site-wide security using the tools and plugins provided.
(Blog Defender security process. Product image source: Blog Defender)
User Feedback
Here are just some testimonials and feedback that users have provided for Blog Defender:
”Great way to secure your blog!” JohnThornhill – www.johnthornhill.com
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”My business is built around the WordPress platform and I’m embarrassed to admin I’ve been slack in the security department. However, Matt’s training soon put that right! I followed each detailed video to the letter and discovered some incredible security tricks and plugins I’d never heard of before. Better still, all the plugins were free to download too! The end result? My WordPress membership site is now locked down tighter than Parkhurst at midnight and if anybody tries hacking it, I’ll be the first to know! thanks again Matt, I’m off to secure the rest of the blogs in my portfolio!” David Walker – www.inboxrockstar.com
Plugin Tips
According to Matt Garrett’s site, since Blog Defender’s first release, no Blog Defender-protected websites have been hacked.
The product developer states on his site …
“With the volume of attacks nowadays … we probably won’t hold forever, so we’ve been busy creating even tougher WordPress security.”
Cybersecurity is is a perpetual game of cat and mouse and all security solutions are only as good as the information and tools developers can harness. The latest release of Blog Defender provides users with an easier security solution that doesn’t need constant attention, won’t cost you a fortune and it’s as good if not better than many premium security products or services currently being offered at a higher price.
Product Support
The product is well-supported, can be used by both Mac and PC users, is compatible with the latest WordPress release and is backed by a risk-free, thirty day, complete refund guarantee.
Product Price
Blog Defender is normally available with a personal license only for use on unlimited sites. When we last checked, however, it was also being sold with Developer rights, allowing users to secure client sites as well.. Price = $47.00.
Please Note: Pricing details of the Blog Defender software depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. The above reflects the current price when this review was written. This may or may not be the actual price set by the product seller when you visit the product website and you may be shown additional upsells or one-time offers after your purchase.
Check the plugin’s website for the current pricing:
Additional Plugin Info
For installation instructions and tutorials, FAQs, support help desk, contact details and more, visit the Blog Defender website.
Our Recommendation
Regardless of the type of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, securing your website is something you cannot afford to ignore.
WordPress is a secure platform, but neglecting basic maintenance tasks like updating your WordPress software, plugins and themes, tightening file and data security and taking other necessary precautions can have disastrous consequences.
Blog Defender helps you understand what your responsibilities are as a website owner, what hosting companies can and can’t do if your sites are compromised, what security features to look for in a webhost, and how to avoid major WordPress security holes without paying for costly solutions.
To learn more, visit the plugin website: Blog Defender Security Solution
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